A probe into the fire incident at Guddu Power Plant has held the staff responsible for Rs20 billion losses, amongst other alarming revelations.
The assessment, which was written a week after the 747-megawatt Unit-II fire, cited major concerns about the plant’s lack of insurance coverage, which directly cost the state billions of dollars.
According to sources, the annual audit paras had frequently pointed out the flaw in the past, asking for insurance cover for all five units of Guddu.
The committee recommended dismissal from the job of the technical and operational staff including the plant manager. It noted that at least one-and-a-half years were required for maintenance.
Minute Mirror broke the story a couple of days after the fire incident of July 9 at midnight. Authorities, earlier, had been hiding the fire incident and now are trying to keep the inquiry a secret. A high-level source shared the details of the findings of a four-member committee on the condition of anonymity on Tuesday.
The power ministry was not ready to share the details officially despite repeated approaches but the spokesperson said the actions would be taken accordingly.
Noting the staff was incapable of running the plant, the committee recommended its outsourcing in the future. It said the plant’s overhauling was delayed due to unknown reasons. The absence of the staff at the site at the time of the incident (the night before Eidul Azha) was also the main reason behind the major loss, stating the number of people was below the required need and they panicked when the fire engulfed the steam turbine. The probe found the fire extinguishers were not working properly and recommended proper overhauling of the equipment.
The steam turbine of Guddu Thermal Power Plant Unit-II was completely damaged due to a fire incident at the site, depriving the national grid of a cheap source of electricity for a year and a half besides causing a loss of Rs25 billion to the national kitty, stated the report compiled by CEO GENCO-III Engineer Sabeeh-us-Zaman Farooqui, Chief Engineer NESPAK Engineer Haseeb Saqib, Additional Director GENCO-III Engineer Jameel Hassan and Additional Plant Manager GENCO-III Engineer Muhammad Akram Sheikh.
Guddu plant management earlier declared the incident as a natural loss that occurred due to rain. It had been said the roof of the power plant leaked due to heavy rain on Saturday night, resulting in short-circuiting and fire at the site.
But sources had revealed to Minute Mirror the fire-fighting equipment at the plant was out of order and the management had to call the trucks from outside to control the fire. It took three hours for the fire-fighting staff to control the fire and till then the steam turbine was damaged completely, they added.
The plant was producing electricity at a cheap cost, utilizing local gas through a dedicated pipeline from Kandhkot tehsil of Kashmore district of Sindh.
